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Massive Air Bag Recall; North Korea Frees American Detainee; Indiana Serial Killer Investigation

Aired October 21, 2014 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BALDWIN: And here we go. We begin with breaking news. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me.

Up first this hour, American Jeffrey Fowle is free from the clutches of North Korea's Communists. CNN has learned the 56-year-old tourist, detained since May, has, in fact, landed in Guam aboard a U.S. government airplane. North Korea freed him in the dark of night without really saying why, as they still hold two Americans convicted there of crimes.

Fowle had been awaiting charges for leaving a Bible, which is forbidden in North Korea, in a nightclub. But the timing here of this release, the timing here is certainly curious, and we will talk about that in just a moment.

But, first, here is confirmation about Fowle's release from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I'm in a position to confirm that Jeffrey Fowle has been allowed to depart the DPRK and is on his way home to rejoin his family. We certainly welcome the decision from the DPRK to release him.

And while this is a positive decision by the DPRK, we remain focused on the continued detention of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller, and again call on the DPRK to immediately release them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Got a lot to talk about here, including what exactly this could signal from the uber-secretive nuclear armed North Korean government.

Let me bring in CNN's Elise Labott, live from the U.S. State Department, and then from Seoul, South Korea, CNN's Paula Hancocks.

So,, ladies, thank you for joining me here at the top of the hour.

And, Elise, let me just begin with you here. Specifically on Fowle's condition, how is he doing? Do we know? ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the State

Department just said moments ago, deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf, Brooke, that he was evaluated by a doctor and is doing well.

Obviously, there's a lot more to discuss with him. He will need to be debriefed by the U.S. government, but right now heading home to his family, the circumstances about this, as you note, very peculiar. State Department not saying much, but it does seem as if the North Koreans called up the U.S., said come get him, demanded it was a U.S. plane, gave them a time frame, and the U.S. sent a Department of Defense plane, and now he's headed back to the United States.

Obviously, his family very happy, but those other two Americans' families, not a very good day for them, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Let's get to that, because there are two Americans still over there in detention. But, first, you know, when we talk about what he did to become detained in May, you know, he confessed. He confessed to leaving this Bible behind. This is a big no-no in communist North Korea.

So, Paula Hancocks, the question to you -- actually, let me pause. Let's take a listen to when Fowle spoke exclusively to our correspondent Will Ripley not too long ago just back in September. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Can you tell us about the charges that you're facing as you have been told?

JEFFREY FOWLE, AMERICAN DETAINED IN NORTH KOREA: The charges are violation much DPRK law, which stem from trying to leave a Bible at the Seamen's Club in Chongjin around (INAUDIBLE) of the DPRK. It was a covert act and a violation of the tourist purpose as well.

And I have admitted my guilt to the government and have signed a statement to that effect and I have also put in a request for forgiveness to the people and the government of the DPRK.

And the legal process is ongoing right now. It's in the final stages of the preliminary investigation. The prosecutor's office and they say that the trial will be forthcoming soon. And so time is getting urgent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Paula, admitting guilt, forgiveness. He talked about this trial. He expected to be tried as have the other two Americans being held by Pyongyang. Do we know if he was put on trial? Isn't that what they do there?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As far as we know, from the information we get from North Korea, he was never actually put on trial. When he spoke to CNN in that interview, he said that he believed that

was going to be imminent. And that's why he thought his situation was so desperate. The other two, Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller, were both tried and both found guilty of hostile acts against the government. Kenneth Bae, of course, sentenced to 15 years hard labor, he's had about two years already in detention in North Korea. And Matthew Miller sentenced to eight years.

But, of course, when you look at Jeffrey Fowle's crime or alleged crime, if you like, it is less serious in North Korea's eyes than the other two American citizens. Yes, he did leave a Bible in a Seamen's Club in a northern port city.

Of course, anything that is religious and is not state-sponsored is more than frowned upon in North Korea. It is seen as a hostile act against the regime and an attempt to topple the regime. But it's not as serious in North Korea's eyes as the crimes from the other two U.S. citizens.

BALDWIN: OK. And of course, the question remains, if he's released, what about the other two Americans?

Elise Labott, thank you so much. And, Paula Hancocks, appreciate it from Seoul.

To Indiana we go, where police are frantically searching abandoned homes. They're looking for more victims, more bodies of a possible serial killer. And CNN got up-close access, riding along with police here in Gary, Indiana, today as they looked for bodies possibly connected to Darren Vann, the man police say led them to half-dozen dead women just in the last couple of days.

Everything was set in motion because of this young woman, her body, the discovery of 19-year-old Afrika Hardy's body in this motel room in Hammond over the weekend. Vann allegedly strangled her before placing her body in the bathtub. Police are now saying today that there were signs of a struggle.

As we mentioned, seven bodies and six others and were found over the course of the weekend mere miles from one another.

Let me go to CNN's Poppy Harlow. She is live in Hammond, Indiana.

And, Poppy, you were out with police today. Tell me what they told you. Where did they take you?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brooke, we were.

I mean, it's an incredibly, incredibly disturbing thing just to think that these seven women were so brutally murdered in this community and then to think that police are spending all of today looking home by home for any more bodies. That is because this 43-year-old suspect Darren Vann has obviously made any indication to them that they should still be looking.

Police told me, no, he has not said, yes, I killed more women and here's where they are, like he did for the other women whom he led police to, but he'd given them some indication. We spent the morning out with the police, their cadaver dogs looking, abandoned home by abandoned home for any signs of any other possible victims. Listen to what the sergeant told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Why did you come here to search for possibly more bodies?

SGT. WILLIAM FAZEKAS, GARY, INDIANA, POLICE DEPARTMENT: We just want to cover all the bases because we just want to make sure this gentleman didn't leave anything unturned. In other words, there could be potentially more bodies. We don't know for sure.

HARLOW: OK.

FAZEKAS: We're just checking.

HARLOW: One of the big concerns here is all the abandoned homes. These bodies, most of them were found in abandoned homes.

FAZEKAS: Yes. Unfortunately, the individual that committed these crimes, seemed his M.O. was to put people in the abandoned -- these dead women in an abandoned house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: This is a man with such a long criminal history spanning back to the '90s. We know that in...

BALDWIN: OK. We're losing you, Poppy Harlow. My apologies. I don't know where the microphone is or what the issue is with the audio. But I think we got the crux of it. We will watch for the rest of your reporting as these police are going now to abandoned home to abandoned home seeing if they will find more, more victims, more bodies.

Alleged cop killer Eric Frein still hiding and believed to be somewhere in the Pocono Mountains. Even with another possible sighting, police can't find him, they can't catch him. Is he really that skilled? My next guest says the police are actually the ones making huge mistakes.

Plus, millions of car owners could be at risk. Exploding air bags could lead to deadly injuries, and now a stepped-up effort to get these fixed ASAP -- what you need to know ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Pennsylvania schools near this area of this massive police manhunt were actually closed today because people who live in the nearby Pocono hills today spotted this alleged cop killer Eric Frein over this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He had actually turned towards me. And that's where you could see the mud on his face, you could tell what height he was based off of the truck that he was standing next to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had a gun?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes, you could clearly tell it was a gun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rifle?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rifle with a scope attached to it. As soon as I saw the gun is when I turned around. I started running. I started screaming, this guy's got a gun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Authorities have been searching for Frein for more than a month now. The 31-year-old survivalist is wanted for the ambush of two state troopers on September 12, one he killed, and one who was injured.

Tracker and survivalist instructor Shane Hobel is joining me here now.

You know all about surviving. You say, let's begin with the police making mistakes. What mistakes are they making?

SHANE HOBEL, TRACKER: Well, you know, it's not their fault.

You have about 1,000 men going into an area they have never been before. It's walking to the woods, some of these guys at night. And there's no -- there's no relationship there.

BALDWIN: This is home field advantage for Frein.

(CROSSTALK)

HOBEL: Absolutely, 100 percent home field advantage for this man.

And, again, we don't know the resources that he knows, people that he knows, friends maybe, like-minded folks, other survivalists. Who knows what umbilical cords he has to work with in terms of his resources. In terms of his intel, he's being very smart about how he's getting this information.

BALDWIN: But what information? What intel?

HOBEL: It's easy for me to just grab a solar power out there that can charge by day and power by night and I can have a police scanner. It's not that difficult to obtain said things, even picking up ham radios. So, I can still listen in on conversations without broadcasting or giving my location away.

BALDWIN: Without being detected.

HOBEL: The fact that the police are coming in there, some of the reports are coming back that they're getting disoriented and lost. And sure, obviously. Again, they're not used to going into this

neighborhood. Little devices, little GPS devices that can help orientate, my fear for these guys are, they're going into the woods, trying to pay attention to as where they're going, when they should be paying attention to what they're going for and not worry about getting back.

You have got 1,000 men. You have got an area that is surrounded three-quarters of the way with neighborhoods. There's a lot of advantage points, dumpsters and other areas by which resources can be obtained.

BALDWIN: So, hang on.

HOBEL: Yes.

BALDWIN: I loved how you described, like, you have this vast area he knows well and almost like spokes on a bicycle wheel, he has locations, potentially.

HOBEL: Potentially.

BALDWIN: Where he has, what, either someone who is in on it or something stashed?

HOBEL: Right.

Again, we don't know how long he's been planning this. Again, it could be for years. The articles they found on the landscape, was it by mistake or was it by intent to lead them to a...

BALDWIN: The notes.

HOBEL: Right. Was this a distraction so he can go to someplace else and continue to work on it?

There are primitive skills that enable you to walk right by a shelter and you wouldn't even know that it's a shelter. I'm really curious to see what those shelters look like. I would love to see and assess those things that they found to give a real sense of value of his bushcraft skills. Is he gear-dependent?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let me ask you. We had a survivalist on yesterday. I have a million questions for you fabulous people because it just baffles someone who would never know how to do this, the notion of it's cold, the Poconos, right? Why wouldn't he have a fire? And the guy was talking to me yesterday, saying, no, he's planned ahead. He's got the gear. He's fine.

You wouldn't see smoke if you're searching for him. My question to him and let me pose it to you is, what would be his Achilles' heel? Is it not necessarily the physical lack of food, gear, et cetera, but it's mental toughness surviving this kind of thing?

HOBEL: Absolutely.

The more skills you have, the less struggle there is, bottom line. Am I dependent on my gear? If I lose my gear, now what? If I lose my fire starter, do I know how to make fire the old way? Even your shelter. You know, you can walk on a landscape pretty much naked and know that you have everything you need. You can actually be warm in the middle of wintertime with bushcraft skills and never have to make a fire. And if you do make a fire, there are smokeless, invisible fires that can be made.

But this is part of that bushcraft primitive skill set. How far does he know? I don't know. Is it gear-based? It looks like it that he is. As we know, cold is going to press in. We don't know his resources, but there's still abundance out there.

BALDWIN: We were pointing out yesterday think of someone that can hide out in the woods. Eric Rudolph, Olympic Park bomber, five years in those North Carolina woods, and it was finally going to a dumpster, right, that tipped people off.

HOBEL: Five years.

BALDWIN: Shane Hobel, thank you so much.

HOBEL: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: Really appreciate it.

HOBEL: Glad to be back.

BALDWIN: A defect in car air bags could cause horrendous injury. This is no small recall, folks, six automakers, nearly five million cars involved and an urgent call from officials to get it fixed right away.

Plus, breaking news -- three American teenage girls trying to enter Syria. And the reason, it is suspicious.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Millions of car owners are being urged to replace their air bags now.

Federal regulators say the devices can explode and spray pieces of metal into the driver, into the passengers. Defective air bags are suspected actually in at least one suspected deadly incident. This recall involves six leading automakers.

Take a good long look at your screen. Pay attention to this. Experts say car owners with the bad bags could be driving ticking time bombs.

Here is CNN's Rene Marsh.

Rene?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Defective air bags similar to this one that explode on impact sending shrapnel flying, seriously injuring or killing the driver.

JAY ZEMBOWER, AUTO EXPERT: It's like a bomb going off with shards of metal.

MARSH: Eighteen-year-old Ashley Parham was driving this 2001 Honda in an Oklahoma high school parking lot when the air bag went off.

CHEROKEE BALLARD, OKLAHOMA MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE: Pieces of metal to fly out of that steering column, which ultimately caused her death, tragic all the way around.

MARSH: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it knows of six incidents involving defective air bags manufactured by Japanese company Takata. The problem stems from the air bag's inflator. It deploys with too much pressure.

ZEMBOWER: The expansion rate is so fast and so quick and violent, that it actually expands this metal portion.

MARSH: It ruptures, sending the sharp pieces of metal flying. Nearly eight million vehicles manufactured between 2000 and 2007 are included in the recall, including some makes of Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Nissan and General Motors vehicles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: Well, Brooke, the problem appears to be linked to warm, high- humidity climates, so an especially urgent warning for drivers living in those areas.

If you want to find out if your car is on this recall list for this defective air bag, the Transportation Department is telling people to contact their car dealership. The agency's own database, safercar.gov, is down because of high traffic -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: While the world was watching is in the besieged border town of Kobani, in Iraq, ISIS is making a new deadly push in two strategically important places, the Mosul dam and Mount Sinjar, 15 near simultaneous attacks flanking Kurdish forces who were in control of that dam, including a truck bomb that killed six Peshmerga soldiers.

This is the dam, remember, that provides water, provides electricity to Baghdad. And then Mount Sinjar, ISIS again regaining some control, capturing two villages there. You remember these incredible pictures shot by our CNN crew on the ground, a rescue of the locals who were pushed on to Mount Sinjar by ISIS.

Also developing right now, this man who ran down two soldiers in Canada had apparently converted to Islam just in this past year. And now investigators think he may have become radicalized. Is this an act of homegrown terrorism? That's ahead. And breaking news back here at home, three American teenage girls

trying to get into Syria, possibly to join these extremists. Hear where they were caught and where they are now next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Just about the bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Breaking now, three American teenage girls who were allegedly bound for Syria to fight for extremists have been caught. Here's the story. Authorities tracking them down all the way to Frankfurt, Germany, after they flew from their homes in Denver, Colorado. It was then, we're told, they had planned to head to Syria.

These girls, and I say girls, they are teenagers, as young as 15, of Somali descent, allegedly radicalized, although we are told the FBI believes their plans were not fully developed. We're also told they have since been flown back to the States.

Meantime, police in Canada say they shot and killed a suspected radicalized terrorist after the man reportedly mowed down two Canadian soldiers with his car. It happened near a strip mall in Montreal. One of the soldiers has died according to Reuters.

CNN national correspondent Deborah Feyerick is joining me more on -- back up. What happened?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and one of the soldiers has died. CNN has confirmed that.

This was something that happened about 20 minutes from the U.S./Canada border. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who is -- they're expected to release more details -- the 25-year-old man, a Muslim convert recently radicalized, he rammed his car into these two soldiers. It's unclear whether this was simply a crime of opportunity or whether this was something he had planned.

But one of them was wearing a uniform. Now, the suspect had been on radar by the Canadian national security investigators. They were watching him because he'd been posting these violent rants on Facebook. The attack is described as -- quote -- "clearly linked to terrorist ideology." That's all under investigation. He's identified by Canadian television as Martin Rouleau.

And, again, when he ran into these soldiers, he then took off, drove about four miles, this wild chase through the streets. The car hit a ditch, rolled over. And then when he exited the vehicle, he was actually carrying a knife. So police at that moment shot him. Now, Canada's been sort of on an increased terror alert because of their involvement with the U.S. coalition fighting troops, fighting ISIS over in Syria and Iraq. But they're aggressively monitoring these people.

And he hit the radar because of his postings. They also believe he's one of 90 people who they have been really watching to see if anything was going to happen. So, they knew he was there, but they didn't know what he was going to do. Turns out, he took his car, used it as a weapon.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: There was someone who did -- there was a soldier who survived?

FEYERICK: There's a soldier that survived. It's unclear what his condition is right now, but even the government is not releasing the names -- of the soldier who died, at the request of the soldier's family.

BALDWIN: OK. Deborah Feyerick, Thank you so much.